Sometimes
by Miss Raye
Summary: A little one shot AU story that picks up after Liz is released from the crypt... wishful thinking on my part. you never know... Sometimes All it Takes...


**Sometimes All It Takes**

Jason rushed up the stairs, nearly bowling over Zander in the process. "What are you doing here?"

"Me?" Zander looked at him with a shrug. "Going to check on Liz."

"Elizabeth," Jason corrected with the subtlety of a cement block in a pond, "will be just fine... don't worry about her." His words weren't comforting... they were a promised and then an order. Zander didn't miss the meaning and stepped aside.

Jason unlocked the door and stepped inside in a moment. "Elizabeth?"

"Jason? Oh, thank God you're here!"

The door shut behind Jason and Zander was left in the dark stairwell shaking his head. He should have known... should have seen... but sometimes all it takes is a spark of hope to believe that something was possible.

But, he realized, in this case... the spark had been well and truly squelched by the sound of relief in Elizabeth's voice and the way she wound her arms around the very lucky neck of Jason Morgan.

* * *

Jason led her over to the couch and eased her down into the overstuffed monstrosity that she insisted on keeping. "Did something happen?"

"There were... noises.. and then I heard... something... it just echoed off the walls and then I felt like I couldn't breathe... " she clutched at her throat as though she could feel something closing in around her neck, "but I knew-" She looked over at him as he sat down beside her, his hands massaging warmth into hers.

"What did you know?" He lifted one hand and pressed a kiss to her palm before his lips drifted up to the sensitive skin of her inner wrist. "Hmmm?" His voice vibrated against her skin.

"I knew..." she was deliciously distracted from her fear by the sinful tremble of muscles beneath his warm lips, "I knew..." Elizabeth struggled to regain control over her mind, but it was long gone... focused on Jason. Sometimes all it takes to fight down the fear is to concentrate on the good things right in front of you and Elizabeth was a woman who had survived so many things in her young life that she knew it was her time to stop being Lizzie and become the woman she was always hoping to be... a woman that knew what she wanted and went after it.

"I knew you'd be here and then I could tell you what I've been meaning to tell you for a long time, Jason."

He looked up at her with a hesitant tilt of his head and an oddly curious expression on his face. "What's that?"

"I don't just like you, Jason... what I feel for you beyond the friendship, respect, and trust... is love. And I'm not saying this to make you say it... or to make you think you have to agree or disagree... I'm not expecting you to do anything or say anything back. I just wanted you to know that I want to be with you when I can and make you happy if I can and-"

"Elizabeth..."

"But I don't want you to feel obligated because of the kidnapping or the bomb or what I just said and-"

He stopped her rambling the only way he could... the only way his heart would let him... he kissed her. He kissed her to stop those delicious lips from talking and put them to good use in other ways. He slid one hand around to the nape of her neck and drew her closer while the other slipped his fingers through her silky-soft hair. He stopped her rambling by starting the down another path entirely.

* * *

It was a long long shift at Kelly's. That's what she told herself as she used a menu to fan air at her face. Tilting her head to the side she closed her eyes and tried to imagine she was sitting in front of a high powered fan.

Nope. No good.

With a sigh she opened her eyes and looked at the two tables that actually had customers. One of the gentlemen by the door was actually wearing a wool sweater. She picked up the coffee pot and headed around the counter to freshen up his cup, all the while wondering to herself if the man was certifiable for wearing that thing during this heatwave.

Then again, she wondered as the two women at the other table were wearing similar outfits, maybe it was just her?

She took care of their needs and headed back to the counter to cut out a couple of pieces of pie for the women.

And that's when she knew something was very very wrong... the floor, recently swept and mopped clean, seemed to buckle beneath her feet. Elizabeth reached out a hand to grab hold of the counter and missed it entirely. "Whoa..." she tried to laugh off the feeling, but her skin flushed with heat and then a chill settled over her a moment before her stomach tried to make a leap right out of her body.

Her ears clogged and only a vague humming filled her head. "Oh no.." her voice was a million miles away and still, when she knew she was falling she had the good sense to let go of the coffee pot and tuck her arms in before she fell.

"Elizabeth? Elizabeth... open your eyes."

That, she acknowledged, she could hear. The sound of Jason's voice was both soothing and concerned.

"Elizabeth? Come on... open your eyes."

And she did. "Jason? What are you doing here?"

"I came to see you." He brushed her hair back from her face. "What happened?"

"I dunno..." she admitted and then grimaced. "Did I spill the coffee all over the floor? I need to clean that-"

"What you need to do is let me take you to the doctor and find out what's wrong with you."

Rose, the new girl working with her at Kelly's, poked her head into Liz's line of sight. "I'll take care of it.. you go."

Elizabeth groaned and accepted Jason's help sitting up. A moment later she was trying to lie down again. "I don't think I can get up."

Before she had time to understand what was happening she was in Jason's arms, her head resting comfortably on his chest. Sometimes all it takes is letting someone help you to realize you're not weak... you're loved.

"I'm going to take you to the hospital, Elizabeth. No arguments."

She breathed in his scent and smiled. "No arguments." As he walked out the door, held by the man with his woolen sweater, she sighed and touched her hand to his chest. "Thanks for being here, Jason..."

"Anytime, Elizabeth... I'll always try to be here for you."

* * *

The emergency room had been full to the gills, but sometimes all it takes is throwing your weight around and reminding folks that even though your name is Morgan... you're still a Quartermaine and your parents, when you choose to acknowledge them, are on staff.

Jason sat on a stool beside Elizabeth's bed and held her hand as she dozed, curled up on her side. He watched the gentle rise and fall of her chest beneath the ugly white gown and realized how pale she looked.

Fear was an emotion he'd thought he'd lost along with being Jason Quartermaine but somehow, he realized, since he'd let Elizabeth care for him at the studio... since he'd admitted to himself how important she was in his life... he felt fear. The cold hard press of fear around his heart when he thought of losing her.

The doctor pushed the curtain back and the metal scrape of the rings against the rod woke Elizabeth from her nap. Jason got up from the stool and sat beside her on the bed so he could help her sit upright.

Doctor Meadows paused for a moment, looking at Elizabeth. "I should probably talk to you... alone."

She heard the pointed suggestion, but Elizabeth was having none of it. "You can say anything in front of Jason."

He smoothed his hand up her arm to comfort her as he nodded to the doctor. "I'm here for her no matter what."

With a smile and a shrug Doctor Meadows looked back down at the test results. "With the exception of being a little dehydrated and probably a few pounds underweight, you'll be just fine... in about thirty-five weeks."

Sometimes all it takes is the simple realization...

"You're pregnant." Jason hugged her tighter to his side and felt the fear around his heart warm. "We're pregnant."

Elizabeth could barely think at the revelation... could barely form a thought beyond lifting her hand to touch her belly. "A baby."

Doctor Meadows tried not to laugh out loud at the young couple. "I'll give you two a few minutes alone before we talk over all the usual instructions." And then they were alone.

"Are you... are you," Elizabeth turned to look at him, fear written across her features, "okay with this?"

Jason took her hand in his and brought it to his lips, pressing a kiss to her palm. "I'm more than okay with it... what about you?"

Her pale complexion blossomed with a healthy flush in her cheeks. "A baby."

"Together."

"Together," she agreed. "I'm more than okay."

He cupped her cheek with his hand and leaned in for a kiss. "I love you both."

She smiled against his lips. "Right back at you."

Then, they were lost in each other... because sometimes all it takes...


End file.
